Earlier this month, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame released its list of nominees for 2019. In what seems to have now become a trend of disappointment, this year's nominations again snubbed a fair number of deserving artists. Among the many snubbed artists were Nine Inch Nails (NIN), who missed out on even making the long list for the third consecutive year. In an interview with Stereogum, frontman Trent Reznor was asked about the omission, and he made his stance perfectly clear: “I honestly couldn’t give less of a sh*t.”

According to Reznor, the honor doesn't feel like it's coming from an authentic place. He likened the Rock Hall to similar accolades like the Grammys and the Oscars to make a point. While the Academy Awards feel “like it’s coming from a much more significant place and from the community that’s honoring you,” Reznor said the Grammys and the Hall of Fame don’t carry as much weight.

“I saw somebody write something online or comment on Twitter like, ‘What could be less rock and roll than the f**kin’ Hall Of Fame?’ And that is authentically how I feel about it," Reznor said.

"I’ll say this: It’s nice to be appreciated. It’s nicer when it feels like that’s coming from a place that you care about. Like, a Grammy doesn’t mean a f**kin thing. It means a few a**holes in a room that are trying to make a TV show have good ratings deciding, ‘Let’s give it to this guy.’ It doesn’t feel like it has any meaning behind it.”

He went on to talk about how uncomfortable it would be if NIN did make it to the Hall of Fame. “The worst would be if we did [get inducted] and then what? We’d have to fuckin’ show up and jam? I can’t even imagine what that would be,” he quipped.

Trent Reznor thinks that there is nothing less rock 'n' roll than the concept of a Hall of Fame. (Image Source: Getty Images)

Reznor also clarified that he's not making the remarks as a case off "sour grapes", and said that it's not like he wouldn't accept the honor if it were bestowed upon him, but he made it clear that it's not something that excites him.

“I honestly couldn’t give less of a sh*t. I’m not gonna sleep any better. Included or not," he said. "With that being said, it’s always nice to feel you’ve been appreciated to some degree but it’s not on my list of things I have to achieve before I die.”

Trent Reznor is not the only one to harbor such sentiments towards the prestigious honor. Members of Radiohead (who are nominated for the second time in a row this year) have also expressed their lack of enthusiasm for the honor in the recent past.

“I don’t care,” Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood responded when asked about the band’s nomination in an interview last year. “Maybe it’s a cultural thing that I really don’t understand. I mean, from the outside it looks like... it’s quite a self-regarding profession anyway. And anything that heightens that just makes me feel even more uncomfortable.”

Guitarist Ed O’Brien added, “I don’t want to be rude about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because, for a lot of people, it means something, but culturally I don’t understand it. I think it might be a quintessentially American thing.”

Apart from Radiohead, the other nominees this year include Rage Against The Machine, Janet Jackson, Roxy Music, Stevie Nicks, The Cure, Def Leppard, LL Cool J, Devo, Todd Rundgren, Kraftwerk, John Prine, Rufus & Chaka Khan. The five shortlisted inductees will be announced in December, with the induction ceremony going down in April 2019 in Brooklyn.

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MEAWW is an initialism for Media Entertainment Arts WorldWide. We are one of the world’s fastest growing
media-tech companies with hubs around the world. MEAWW brings you the best content from its global team of
reporters on a platform technologically tailored to meet the needs of the modern reader.